


A Very Sanctuary Halloween

by RedheadedBlondeBitxh



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:07:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27317491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedheadedBlondeBitxh/pseuds/RedheadedBlondeBitxh
Summary: How do you organize a Sanctuary Halloween?Not without a few headaches, that's for sure.
Relationships: Paladin Danse/Female Sole Survivor
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	A Very Sanctuary Halloween

It had been five months since the world ended. Or rather, the world of oppression and fear that the Commonwealth had once known. The Institute had finally been destroyed, resulting in the slow rebuilding process of civilization, aided largely by the resurgent generation of Minutemen under General Eleanora Hartt-Smith.

Save for the poorly managed attempt of Raider invasion a couple months prior, the settlements of the Commonwealth had been blessedly peaceful.

It was October 31, 2288.

Preston had successfully convinced Nora that there was a new settlement south of Jamaica Plains in desperate need of help, and the pair had headed out immediately, leaving Danse to plan his surprise. With Piper doing the lion’s share of the organization and delegation, Sanctuary began to buzz with life, everyone preparing for the Halloween festivities later that night.

Everything was going absolutely perfect, save for the particularly mischievous Railroad agent and ghoul terrorizing their efforts, albeit with limited actual hindrance.

Danse had fortunately caught Cait right before she had dumped the two bottles of Brobov’s best into the punch bowl, an amused smirk on her face.

“ ‘ey I wasn’ actually goin’ ta do it.” The redhead defended with a shrug, backing away as he narrowed his eyes at her in disbelief. “I do know better ‘an ta mess with the punch ‘ere. I wouldn’ want anyone to get sick or nothin’.”

“May I remind you, Cait, that there will be several children in attendance, not to mention that fact that Nora is -” He began, his explanation cut short by her irritated scoff.

“Oi, yeah yeah, I know.” She interjected, rolling her eyes at his objections. “Shite, I’m not stupid ‘ere Danse. Jus cause I ain’t taught right like ya, soldier boy.”

Danse let out a slow breath, pinching the bridge of his nose just as Curie approached, a wide-eyed expression on her face as she observed all the decorations. “Et ez the most beautiful of the holidays I have ze pleasure to see thus far! So many colors en ze haunted house. Very spooky!”

“I woulda liked it better if my Pipes ‘ad let us put up my decoration out here instead.” Cait grumbled, crossing her arms defiantly.

“Oh no, mademoiselle! Your decoration was ze most distressing! “Curie exclaimed, looking anxiously around the nearby houses as if expecting to see the particularly heinous ‘decoration’ in question.

While the women began to debate the merits of the Halloween party, Danse quickly made his escape, trying to track down where MacCready had slipped off to, given that the younger man was in charge of coordinating the children’s activities for the night. Almost as soon as he had turned the corner, he saw Shaun running toward him, Nick languidly trailing behind with a soft smile.

“Dad, look! Detective Valentine helped me with my costume so I could get it just right! Do you think Mom will like it?” Shaun asked, his excitement almost palpable as he bounced on the balls of his feet, pulling at the tan trench coat that was at least half a size too big for him.

“She’s going to love it.” Danse promised, reaching forward to straighten his tie, giving Nick an appreciative nod as the synth waved in his direction before retrieving a pack of cigarettes from his own coat.

“Nick told me all about some cool detective stories from working in Diamond City.” Shaun rushed, the words half running together as he continued. “My favorite was about this guy Eddie Winters that Mom helped him track down-”

“We discussed the basic details of the case.” Nick defended, taking a long drag from his cigarette as Danse shot him a quick look. “Shaun knows all about how Nora helped bring Winters to justice and we _arrested_ him.”

“I see.“ Danse raised a brief eyebrow, looking back to Shaun’s happy grin as he played with the badge on his belt, leaning forward to add in a low voice, “I appreciate you sharing _that_ version of events.”

At the comment, the detective waved him away, pointing back toward the mess hall with a shrug. “I oughta go help Ellie with the food. Mac was lookin’ for you earlier, over by the garden.”

“Thank you.” Danse offered the briefest of waves in return, turning to look back at Shaun.

“Bye Mr Valentine!” Shaun added, reaching forward to take Danse’s hand as the headed toward the area in question. “Is Mom going to be back in time for the party?”

“She should be.” He answered, noting Shaun’s anxious expression at his less than certain verbiage, and he quickly tried to reassure him. “Mr Garvey is with her, so we have nothing to worry about.”

Just as they were at the edge of the garden, Shaun stopped, looking up at him as he mumbled, “I miss her.”

“I know... I miss her too, but she’ll be back.” Danse promised, squeezing his hand. “Come on, Duncan and Nat should be around her somewhere.”

MacCready stepped out of the door to the shed, barely concealing his less than pleased scowl at Danse’s presence before turning to smile at Shaun. “I wonderin' when you two were going to wander over here. I took care of everything on the list, but we have a slight issue with the candied muttfruit....”

“Which is?” Danse pressed, trying his hardest not to return the man’s hostility despite their rocky relationship.

“It would seem that it’s gone missing-” The younger man started, shooting a quickly look back to where Shaun had joined the other Sanctuary kids who were folding origami bats with Marcy at the picnic table.

“It _what-_ ”

At the exclamation, MacCready rolled his eyes, nodding toward the closest house with a groan. “Hey, simmer down now, Danny-boy. I left Deacon in charge of watching it while I set up the costume station.”

“Why in God’s name would you leave Deacon -” Danse bit out a frustrated sigh, quickly reigning in his irritation before continuing. “I’ll take care of this. Thank you for your help.”

“Call it my freakin’ pleasure.” MacCready grumbled, turning to go back into the shed with a glare.

It had taken Danse nearly another hour to track down Deacon who, predictably, was causing additional problems as he argued with Piper about the realism of his proposed costume.

“I’m _just_ saying, there is no way anyone would even know it was me-” Deacon pressed, gesticulating wildly to emphasize his point.

“You are _not_ dressing up as a feral ghoul, you dick! There are children here. Do you want to traumatize them? This is a family event, Deacon.” Piper demanded, clenching the clipboard in her hand so tight Danse was sure she was going to snap it in half.

“I’m quite certain that is the least of his worries, given that he’s already sabotaged the candied muttfruit set aside for the children.” Danse stated coolly, watching as Piper’s face went red with anger at the revelation.

“You did _what?_!” She exclaimed, stepping aggressively close to Deacon and poking him in the chest. “If they are not back in the mess hall by six o’clock, I swear to Atom, you will live to regret it.”

Deacon forced a saccharin grin to his face, tapping his hand to his chest dramatically. “Scouts honor, Pipes.”

Before she could answer, he turned away, disappearing alarmingly fast between the settlers mulling about.

Piper shot him a nervous look, checking her watch with a loud sigh. “It’s almost time and I haven’t even organized the photo booth or put the finishing touches on the pumpkin carving station or -”

“It will be _fine_.” He insisted, looking back toward the entrance as if to verify that Nora and Preston hadn’t returned early from their fake mission. “Codsworth is handling the popcorn-”

As he turned back to Piper, X6 appeared behind her, dressed in an Institute lab coat, his sunglasses replaced by a pair of reading glasses. “I was advised to inform you when General Smith was approximately 10 minutes away.”

Just as abruptly as the man had appeared, he was gone, the slight fizzle in the air the only indication he had been there at all. Piper let out a quick gasp, running toward the area where the photo booth was supposed to be set up, while Danse rushed toward the settlement’s entrance, hoping to stall Nora for as long as possible to put the final details together.

No sooner than he has reached the Sanctuary sign, Nora appeared around the guard tower, completely freezing as she crossed into the bustling city.

“What-”

“Sorry man, I couldn’t stall her any longer, she’s a lot faster than she looks.” Preston interjected with an exasperated frown.

“I am aware.” Danse agreed, turning to look back at Nora who was intently scanning the strings of lights, decorations and pumpkins scattered around the settlement, tears dampening the corners of her eyes.

“What’s going on, Danse?” She asked, her voice wavering slightly as she swallowed, looking back toward him with a start.

Danse could feel an acute wave of panic soar through him at her apparent distress.“I... I’m sorry, I thought you would like-”

“You did all this?” The words were fragile and vulnerable, dancing through the air between them like smoke. “For me?”

At the sudden tone of affection in her words, her eyes softening as they looked back to meet his own, he felt instantly warm. “Well there were a substantial amount of people who were involved in the process, all of your friends agreed-”

She immediately flung her arms around his neck, placing her head against his neck with a shaky breath. “I love it, Danse... So much...” Her excited laugh echoed against his chest as she pulled back, caressing his cheek with a small smile. “I can’t believe you got this over on me.”

“I’ve been advised that I have my moments.” Danse quickly pulled her into a slow kiss, grasping her waist and running his hand over the bump of her stomach as he leaned away. “I wanted our first Halloween as a family to be one to remember.”

“It certainly will be.” Nora whispered, pressing her lips back to his for a brief kiss before pulling back away. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, my dear.” He vowed, nodding toward their home with an amused smile. “How about we go meet Sanctuary’s famous Detective Shaun... He’s very excited to show you his costume. Valentine has been helping him with it for weeks.”

At his words, her face broke into an impossibly wide grin, reaching to take his hand as they walked toward the house in question, Danse knowing without a doubt that he was happier than he had ever been.


End file.
